What makes people do what they do? Why help the old woman cross the street? Why do we feel hungry? What drives us to want to have a life partner? Children? To succeed in school, etc.? These are topics that psychologists seek to answer. Altruism is the selfless helping of others.
There are several theories on motivation. They range from biological/instinctive, to drives and incentives, to arousal, and to humanistic hierarchies. But why do some people - a lot of people really - seek to do good. Consider the following website to get an idea of what motivates people to become altruistic http://www.humantruth.info/altruism.html .
As you read through the entire site consider the following questions. Consider the reading in light of the questions and write your reaction to it on your wiki. The questions are only a guide.
Are we, as some might say, motivated by a desire to save our off-spring?
Must there always be some sort of intrinsic reward for doing good?
Mr. Otis once said, "That having integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching." If this is so, and no one knows when we have done good, would you still do good?
"Delayed reciprocal altruism", seems like a gamble - back to game theory, any way. Does this seem to make sense to you. That is that we act out of a desire to have what we have done being done to us?
Are we ever being truly "selfless" when committing an act of altruism?
There is some criticism of Maslow's perspective on motivation, namely that people may skip a biological need to meet a higher need, i.e. the political motivation behind starving oneself. Nonetheless, his perspective is embraced by many people the world over.
Consider your actions and keep a record of them for a 72 hour period (starting on your first class for the week of December 1 to 4). A word document is included for you to fill out. Be sure to respond to the final question.
Homeostasis: the tendency for organisms to keep their physiological systems at a stable, steady level
(refer to lesson 1)
Glucose (blood sugar)
Increased level of the hormone insulin diminishes blood sugar
Hunger increases when blood glucose level drops
Hypothalamus: a structure in the forebrain regulating hunger, thirst, and sex drives
Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH): if stimulated, the animal will stop eating; if destroyed, the animal will eat ravenously
Lateral hypothalamus (LH): if stimulated, animal eats vast quantities, even if they have just eaten; if destroyed, animal stops eating almost entirely
Set point: one theory maintains that these two hypothalamic regions interact to maintain a set point of body weight, food intake, or related metabolic signals (weight thermostat)
Metabolic rate: resting rate of energy expenditures
Eating Disorders
Read the following article http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep06/body.html and prepare to respond to it in a group discussion.
For Block C Wednesday, for Block E and Block A Thursday.
By now you should have read all of Module 23: Introduction to Motivation: Hunger.
Sexual Motivation (Module 24)
The big names in human sexuality are Alfred Kinsey and William Masters & Virginia Johnson (a.k.a. Masters and Johnson). Most all information that we get about human sexuality originates from these two separate studies.
First class:
Brief introduction to human sexual motivation and discussion on some aspects of it.
Class discussion (see handout). NOTE THAT THE ABOVE DISCUSSION TOPIC, "EATING DISORDERS AND MINORITIES", HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH "SWEDISH SCIENTISTS STUDY LINKS BRAIN OF GAY MEN, STRAIGHT WOMEN". My apologies, but I believe that this article, albeit shorter, will stimulate much more dialogue and debate.
As a counter to the article mentioned above and handed out in class, please read at your leisure the following article on the internet http://www.narth.com/docs/istheregene.html
Be sure to read what is remaining in Module 24.
Achievement Motivation (Module 25)
When you have completed this module you should be able to:
describe the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivators.
explain how organizations can motivate their members/employees.
find out which is the best sort of leadership style.
explain the difference between men and women in terms of levels of aggressiveness.
Like the above, make sure you have read Module 25.
Introduction to Motivation: Hunger
Notes for Module:What makes people do what they do? Why help the old woman cross the street? Why do we feel hungry? What drives us to want to have a life partner? Children? To succeed in school, etc.? These are topics that psychologists seek to answer.
Altruism is the selfless helping of others.
There are several theories on motivation. They range from biological/instinctive, to drives and incentives, to arousal, and to humanistic hierarchies. But why do some people - a lot of people really - seek to do good. Consider the following website to get an idea of what motivates people to become altruistic http://www.humantruth.info/altruism.html .
As you read through the entire site consider the following questions. Consider the reading in light of the questions and write your reaction to it on your wiki. The questions are only a guide.
- Are we, as some might say, motivated by a desire to save our off-spring?
- Must there always be some sort of intrinsic reward for doing good?
- Mr. Otis once said, "That having integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching." If this is so, and no one knows when we have done good, would you still do good?
- "Delayed reciprocal altruism", seems like a gamble - back to game theory, any way. Does this seem to make sense to you. That is that we act out of a desire to have what we have done being done to us?
- Are we ever being truly "selfless" when committing an act of altruism?
Block A Altruism reactionsBlock C Altruism reactions
Block E Altruism reactions
Maslow (Humanism) & Motivation
There is some criticism of Maslow's perspective on motivation, namely that people may skip a biological need to meet a higher need, i.e. the political motivation behind starving oneself. Nonetheless, his perspective is embraced by many people the world over.Consider your actions and keep a record of them for a 72 hour period (starting on your first class for the week of December 1 to 4). A word document is included for you to fill out. Be sure to respond to the final question.
Hunger and Eating Disorders
Hunger
- Physiological Determinants of Hunger
- Homeostasis: the tendency for organisms to keep their physiological systems at a stable, steady level
(refer to lesson 1)Eating Disorders
Read the following article http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep06/body.html and prepare to respond to it in a group discussion.For Block C Wednesday, for Block E and Block A Thursday.
By now you should have read all of Module 23: Introduction to Motivation: Hunger.
Sexual Motivation (Module 24)
The big names in human sexuality are Alfred Kinsey and William Masters & Virginia Johnson (a.k.a. Masters and Johnson). Most all information that we get about human sexuality originates from these two separate studies.First class:
Brief introduction to human sexual motivation and discussion on some aspects of it.
Class discussion (see handout). NOTE THAT THE ABOVE DISCUSSION TOPIC, "EATING DISORDERS AND MINORITIES", HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH "SWEDISH SCIENTISTS STUDY LINKS BRAIN OF GAY MEN, STRAIGHT WOMEN". My apologies, but I believe that this article, albeit shorter, will stimulate much more dialogue and debate.
As a counter to the article mentioned above and handed out in class, please read at your leisure the following article on the internet http://www.narth.com/docs/istheregene.html
Be sure to read what is remaining in Module 24.
Achievement Motivation (Module 25)
When you have completed this module you should be able to:- describe the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivators.
- explain how organizations can motivate their members/employees.
- find out which is the best sort of leadership style.
- explain the difference between men and women in terms of levels of aggressiveness.
Like the above, make sure you have read Module 25.Gender Specific Motivation
Block A - Story A Block A - Story 1
Block C - Story A Block C - Story 1
Block E - Story A Block E - Story 1
Enjoy the stories see if you can see any differences between Story A and Story 1. What might it be?
Next week: Quiz on all the above.